Hog’s Head Cheese Sign

A term of art referring to a CT appearance in which there are mixed densities of lung parenchyma which has been fancifully likened to the appearance of the mixture of boiled pork scraps and pigs’ feet in a gelatinous base which is marketed as hog’s head cheese. The hog’s head cheese pattern indicates a mixed infiltrative pattern characterized by ground-glass or consolidation and obstructive disease (usually associated with bronchiolitis) characterized by mosaic perfusion, with decreased vessel calibre and side branches in the hypoattenuating regions of lung parenchyma
Aetiology Hypersensitivity pneumonitis, sarcoidosis, atypical infections (e.g., due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae) with associated bronchiolitis, and acute interstitial pneumonia

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